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STATE  LIBRARY  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


i 


The  Scope  of  the  Library". 


The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  State  Library,  in  their  an¬ 
nual  report  for  1910,  set  forth  their  understanding  of  the 
scope  of  the  library,  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  estab¬ 
lished  by  the  General  Court,  as  follows :  — 

1.  Statutes  and  Reports.  —  The  library  should  possess  the 
laws  and  the  judicial  decisions  of  the  United  States,  the 
several  States  and  territories ;  the  laws  and  the  judicial  de¬ 
cisions  of  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  and  dependencies; 
and  the  statute  law,  at  least,  of  all  the  other  countries  of  the 
civilized  world.  Digests,  revisions  and  compilations  of  the 
laws  and  reports  naturally  have  their  place  with  this  collec¬ 
tion,  as  also  the  journals  and  debates  of  the  constitutional 
conventions.  The  library’s  collection  in  this  line  to-day  is 
unique.  It  should  be  kept  strictly  up  to  date,  and  gaps  and 
deficiencies  supplied  whenever  opportunity  offers. 

2.  Public  Records.  —  The  library  should  contain  the  con¬ 
gressional  and  public  documents  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  several  States;  the  parliamentary  reports,  i.e.,  the  ses¬ 
sional  papers  of  Great  Britain  and  selected  departmental 
reports  of  her  colonies  and  dependencies.  The  library  pos¬ 
sesses  most  of  these.  The  public  records  and  the  legislative 
journals  of  the  larger  foreign  countries  also  have  their  legit¬ 
imate  place  in  such  a  collection ;  the  library  possesses  a  lim¬ 
ited  number  of  the  foreign  journals.  Every  effort  should  be 
made  to  perfect  these  public  records  where  incomplete,  and 
they  should  he  continued  as  issued. 

3.  New  England.  —  The  library  has  a  large  collection  of 
material  relating  to  New  England,  and  especially  to  Massa¬ 
chusetts  as  colony,  province  and  commonwealth.  This  ma¬ 
terial  includes  history,  biography,  genealogy,  town  reports, 
maps  and  newspapers.  All  possible  additions  should  he  made 


to  this  collection  so  far  as  items  relating  to  Massachusetts 
are  concerned,  and  a  careful  selection  of  material  relating 
to  the  other  New  England  States  should  he  included  as  far  as 
practicable  within  a  reasonable  limit  of  expense. 

4.  Miscellaneous.  —  The  collection  under  this  head  should 
make  provision  for  special  limited  libraries  for  each  depart¬ 
ment  of  government,  executive,  judicial  and  legislative  ;  not 
every  book  published,  of  course,  relating  to  the  subjects 
which  might  be  of  conceivable  service,  but  a  carefully  made 
selection.  In  addition  to  the  statute  and  law  reports,  there 
should  be  at  the  service  of  the  Attorney-General’ s  office,  as 
well  as  for  the  General  Court,  a  carefully  chosen  library  of 
the  standard  and  universally  used  legal  textbooks  and  law 
periodicals.  The  executive,  legislative  and  other  State  de¬ 
partments,  and  the  various  boards,  commissions  and  com¬ 
mittees,  should  find  in  the  library  a  fair  selection  of  the 
latest  and  best  material  relating  to  government,  and  to  social 
and  political  science;  the  standard  works  on  finance,  tax¬ 
ation  and  banking;  books  relating  to  agriculture  and  horti¬ 
culture;  collections  relating  to  pedagogy  and  education;  the 
literature  of  penology,  charities,  social  reform,  State  indus¬ 
tries,  civic  development  and  betterment;  the  standard  his¬ 
tories  ;  books  relating  to  the  social  and  political  development 
of  other  States  and  countries ;  publications  of  historical  so¬ 
cieties  of  national  standing;  political  biographies;  and  the 
important  standard  periodicals.  The  class  of  books  known 
as  “  works  of  reference  ”  should  be  complete,  including  en¬ 
cyclopaedias,  dictionaries,  gazetteers,  atlases  and  the  various 
indexes  and  guides  to  the  use  of  books  in  the  fields  of  State 
and  political  activity  above  indicated. 

The  fourth  annual  report  of  the  trustees  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  Nov.  30,  1913,  contains  a  brief  account  of  the  history 
and  development  of  the  State  Library.  In  the  appendix  to 
the  same  report  will  be  found  the  statutory  history  of  the 
library.  See  also  pages  286  and  287  of  the  report  prepared 
by  the  Commission  on  Economy  and  Efficiency,  published 
November,  1914,  entitled  “  Functions,  organization  and  ad¬ 
ministration 'of  the  departments  in  the  executive  branch  of 
the  State  government.” 


Privileges  of  State  Officials  and  Legislators  in 
other  Libraries. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  —  Section  6  of  the  act 
of  Feb.  19,  1794,  incorporating  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  provides  that  “  either  branch  of  the  legislature  shall 
and  may  have  free  access  to  the  library  and  museum  of  said 
society.” 

Boston  Athenceum.  —  Section  5  of  the  act  of  Feb.  13, 
1807,  incorporating  the  Proprietors  of  the  Boston  Athemeum, 
provides  that  “  the  governor,  the  lieutenant-governor,  the 
members  of  the  council,  of  the  senate  and  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  for  the  time  being,  shall  have  free  access  to 
the  library  of  the  said  corporation,  and  may  visit  and  con¬ 
sult  the  same  at  all  times,  under  the  same  regulations  as  may 
be  provided  by  the  by-laws  of  said  corporation  for  the  pro¬ 
prietors  thereof.” 

Social  Law  Library.  —  Section  5  of  the  act  of  Oct.  21, 
1814,  incorporating  the  Proprietors  of  the  Social  Law  Li¬ 
brary,  provides  that  “  the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  and 
the  members  of  the  council  of  this  commonwealth,  at  all 
times,  and  the  members  of  the  senate,  and  house  of  repre¬ 
sentatives,  during  any  session  of  the  general  court,  shall  have 
free  access  to,  and  the  full  and  entire  use  and  enjoyment  of 
the  said  library,  and  all  the  privileges  and  advantages 
thereof,  free  of  expense,  under  the  same  regulations  as  may 
be  provided  by  the  by-laws  of  the  said  corporation,  for  the 
proprietors  thereof.” 

Boston  Public  Library.  —  Section  1  of  the  act  of  April  22, 
1880,  in  relation  to  the  public  library  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
in  Copley  Square,  provides  that  “  all  the  citizens  of  the  com¬ 
monwealth  shall  have  the  perpetual  right  of  access  thereto, 
free  of  charge.” 

By  arrangement  with  these  libraries  and  the  university 
libraries  in  Cambridge,  an  interchange  of  loans  is  possible, 
making  the  number  of  books  available  for  the  use  of  the  State 
officers  and  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  world. 


REPORT  TO  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  AND 
THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  STATE  LIBRARY  OF 
THE  COMMITTEE  WHICH  RECENTLY  VISITED  MADISON, 
WISCONSIN,  TO  EXAMINE  THE  LEGISLATIVE  REFER¬ 
ENCE  BUREAU  AND  BILL  DRAFTING  DEPARTMENT. 


MASSACHUSETTS  STATE  LIBRARY. 

Massachusetts  Revised  Laws,  Chap.  10,  Sec.  23,  reads  as  follows:  — 

“  There  shall  be  a  state  library  in  the  state  house  which  shall  be  kept  open  every 
day  except  Sundays  and  legal  holidays  for  the  use  of  the  governor,  lieutenant 
governor,  council,  general  court  and  such  officers  of  the  government  and  other 
persons  as  may  be  permitted  to  use  it.” 

The  state  library  is  not  therefore  a  general  public  library  but  is  a  refer¬ 
ence  library,  chiefly  designed  for  the  use  of  the  executive  and  legislative 
branches  of  the  government.  For  this  reason  it  is  appropriately  located 
in  the  state  house. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts  are  well  served  by  the  various  public 
and  private  libraries  scattered  throughout  the  Commonwealth.  No  city 
in  the  nation  is  better  served  in  this  respect  than  is  the  City  of  Boston. 
We  believe  therefore  that  the  state  library  should  confine  itself  to  the 
function  for  which  it  was  created.  It  should  not  be  permitted  to  develop 
into  a  general  public  library,  involving  the  room  and  expense  demanded 
by  such  an  institution. 

In  the  main  the  state  library  has  confined  itself  to  its  proper  function. 
It  is  especially  rich  in  its  collections  of  material  in  the  field  of  legislation, 
taken  in  the  broadest  sense.  This  should  be  supplemented  by  the  gather¬ 
ing  of  the  very  valuable  material,  ephemeral  in  character,  but  containing 
information  not  otherwise  available.  Mr.  Clarence  B.  Lester,  until 
recently  librarian  of  the  legislative  reference  section  of  the  New  York 
State  Library,  and  now  connected  with  the  Wisconsin  legislative  reference 
bureau,  concurs  in  this  opinion. 

With  such  matter  as  the  library  already  possesses,  together  with  such 
matter  as  it  is  its  policy  to  collect,  our  state  library  is  and  will  continue 
to  be  well  equipped  to  fulfill  its  purpose.  The  real  problem  is  how  to 
make  the  material  which  it  possesses  readily  available  to  legislators. 

WISCONSIN. 

With  this  problem  in  mind,  at  the  request  of  the  governor  and  of  the 
trustees  of  the  library,  your  committee  visited  Madison,  Wisconsin,  and 
examined  the  Wisconsin  legislative  reference  bureau  and  bill  drafting 
department.  We  found  there  an  elaborate  system  for  collecting  and 
cataloguing  material  on  subjects  of  interest  to  legislators,  and  a  depart¬ 
ment  for  drafting  bills. 


LEGISLATIVE  REFERENCE  BUREAU. 


The  Wisconsin  legislative  reference  bureau  has  practically  no  books. 
By  a  system  of  clippings,  typewritten  extracts  from  books,  and  cata¬ 
loguing,  this  bureau  brings  together,  in  a  compact  form,  matter  on  many 
subjects  of  special  interest  to  legislators,  which  matter,  upon  request 
can  be  immediately  produced.  The  cost  of  the  Wisconsin  legislative 
reference  bureau,  including  the  bill  drafting  department,  is  about  $22,000. 
That  such  a  degree  of  success  is  possible  as  has  been  attained  in  Wisconsin 
on  this  amount,  Dr.  McCarthy  attributes  in  no  small  part  to  the  co¬ 
operation  of  the  professors  of  the  State  University,  to  the  availability  of 
student  workers,  and  the  proximity  of  the  State  Law  Library  and  the 
State  Historical  Society  Library.  Located  elsewhere  or  run  on  a  com¬ 
mercial  basis  he  has  stated  that  he  should  want  $40,000  annually.  The 
cost  of  the  Massachusetts  state  library,  including  the  legislative  reference 
room,  is  $27,510,  of  which  $10,000  is  spent  for  books  and  other  printed 
material. 

Our  state  library  already  has  a  legislative  reference  department  which 
is  freely  used.  With  the  exception  of  letters,  newspaper  clippings  and 
material  of  an  ephemeral  nature,  all  of  the  matter  furnished  to  Wisconsin 
legislators  can  be  furnished  by  our  library  to  Massachusetts  legislators, 
but  not  so  quickly  nor  in  so  compact  and  convenient  a  form.  On  the 
other  hand,  because  of  our  rich  collections  of  books  and  other  printed 
matter,  much  valuable  material  can  be  produced  here  which  cannot,  so 
readily,  be  produced  in  Wisconsin. 

We  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  what  is  needed  in  Massachusetts 
is  not  the  elaborate  system  in  Wisconsin  of  clippings,  extracts,  and  cata¬ 
loguing  on  every  conceivable  subject  of  interest  to  legislators,  some  of 
which  matter  is  never  called  for,  but  rather  one  or  two  more  competent 
male  reference  assistants,  familiar  with  the  resources  of  our  library  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  assist  legislators  in  getting  what  they  want  within  a 
reasonable  time  and  in  a  convenient  form.  Of  course,  when  matter  on  any 
subject  has  once  been  collected  for  a  legislator  it  could  be  so  catalogued 
and  preserved  that  the  work  need  not  be  done  over  if  such  matter  were 
again  called  for.  Witn  the  present  force  at  our  library  perhaps  one  com¬ 
petent  legislative  librarian  could  do  this  work. 

CARD  CATALOGUE. 

A  prerequisite  for  this  work,  and  in  fact  a  necessity  in  every  well 
equipped  library,  is  a  thoroughly  scientific,  modern  public  card  catalogue. 
Money  spent  in  piling  up  material  without  such  a  catalogue  is  largely 
wasted. 

BILL  DRAFTING  DEPARTMENT. 

In  her  bill  drafting  department  Wisconsin  employs,  while  the  legislature 
is  in  session,  three  or  four  competent  and  experienced  lawyers,  with  stenog¬ 
raphers  and  proofreaders,  to  assist  legislators  in  preparing  bills.  These 


men  are  supposed  not  to  furnish  ideas  but  merely  to  put  matter  for  legisla¬ 
tion  in  proper  form,  with  special  reference  to  existing  law  and  to  the 
constitution. 

This  department  is  under  criticism  in  Wisconsin.  It  is  called  the  “bill 
factory.’ '  Its  opponents  claim  that  it  so  facilitates  the  production  of 
bills  that  it  multiplies  the  matters  submitted  to  the  legislature.  This 
objection  did  not  impress  us  when  we  learned  that  only  about  1,700 
matters  are  presented  to  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin  once  in  two  years, 
while  here  in  Massachusetts,  where  no  such  elaborate  department  exists, 
over  3,000  matters  are  presented  every  year. 

Another  more  serious  criticism  is  that  the  bill  drafting  department, 
acting  in  conjunction  with  university  professors,  interferes  with  legisla¬ 
tion  and  takes  the  initiative  in  suggesting  legislation.  Although  in  the 
past  this  may  have  been  true  to  some  degree,  still  we  found  that  the  depart¬ 
ment  disclaimed  any  interference  in  matters  of  legislation  and  that  its 
rules  distinct^  .forbid  the  furnishing  of  ideas  to  legislators  or  any  other 
form  of  initiative.  The  purpose  of  the  bill  drafting  department  is  merely 
to  assist  such  legislators,  as  may  seek  its  assistance,  in  drafting  bills  to 
incorporate  their  own  ideas. 

In  Massachusetts  we  already  have  two  lawyers  engaged  at  public 
expense  in  such  work,  namely,  the  clerks  of  the  Senate  and  House  Com¬ 
mittees  on  Rules.  These  men  assist  legislators  in  the  preparation  of  bills 
and  assist  also  the  committees  on  bills  in  the  Third  Reading  of  the  House 
and  Senate  respectively. 

We  believe  that  this  work  is  useful  and  important.  If  it  is  to  be  properly 
done  in  Massachusetts,  a  room  should  be  furnished  adjoining  the  legisla¬ 
tive  reference  room.  The  legal  assistants  now  engaged  in  this  work  should 
occupy  such  room  and  should  be  furnished  with  clerical  assistants.  There 
should  be  close  co-operation  between  the  bill  drafting  department  and 
the  legislative  reference  bureau,  but  we  believe  that  these  departments 
should  be  entirely  distinct.  The  reference  room  should  be  under  the 
control  of  the  state  librarian,  and  the  bill  drafting  department  under  the 
control  of  the  legislature. 

It  should  be  the  function  of  the  bill  drafting  department  to  assist  legis¬ 
lators  in  drafting  bills,  as  at  present,  but  more  especially  this  department 
should  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  examining  every  bill  which  is  to  be 
reported  favorably  by  a  legislative  committee,  before  it  is  submitted  to 
the  legislature.  It  should  also,  as  at  present,  assist  the  committees  on 
bills  in  the  Third  Reading. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

We  make  the  following  recommendations: 

First:  That  the  work  now  in  progress  on  the  state  library  card  cata¬ 
logue  be  pushed  as  fast  as  practicable  and  that  ample  appropriation  for 
this  purpose  be  made. 


3 


2  061906035 


Second:  That  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  state  library  be  authorized 
to  employ  a  competent  legislative  reference  librarian  to  act  as  assistant 
to  the  state  librarian. 

Third:  That  a  bill  drafting  department  be  established  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  legislature  and  that  for  this  department  a  room  be  fur¬ 
nished  adjoining  the  legislative  reference  room. 

These  recommendations  suggest  nothing  new  in  Massachusetts  and 
involve  no  great  expense.  The  purpose  is  simply  to  organize  work  already 
done,  systematize  it  and  thus  render  it  more  efficient  and  useful. 

JOSEPH  WALKER. 

HENRY  G.  WELLS. 

CHARLES  F.  D.  BELDEN. 

March  5th,  1915. 

ENDORSEMENTS. 

James  Bryce,  after  examining  the  Wisconsin  bill  drafting  department, 
endorsed  it  without  reservation,  adding  that  “those  who  were  ultra-con¬ 
servative  would  not  favor  a  department  for  scientific  drafting  of  legisla¬ 
tion  and  have  never  done  so.”  This  seems  to  have  been  the  experience 
of  Wisconsin. 

A  resolution  passed  by  the  American  Bar  Association  in  1913  put  the 
matter  tersely  —  “Resolved,  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  Association,  an 
official  legislative  drafting  and  reference  service,  when  properly  organized 
and  directed,  forms  an  efficient  agency  tending  to  prevent  the  enactment 
of  unconstitutional,  obscure  and  otherwise  defective  statutes  and  to 
secure  the  utmost  brevity  and  simplicity,  consistent  with  accuracy,  in 
the  language  of  statutes,  and  we  hereby  recommend  the  establishment 
and  generous  support  of  such  service  at  Washington  and  in  those  states 
not  now  having  such  service.” 

The  Montana  Bar  Association  recently  pointed  out  that  —  “the  time 
of  the  court  is  consumed  in  hearing  discussions  upon  statutory  enactments 
and  determining  what  law  is  in  force  and  what  has  been  repealed.” 

In  1913,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  favored  the 
establishment  of  a  bill  drafting  department  by  a  referendum  vote  of 
625  to  16. 

President  Wilson  says:  —  “I  can  only  say  that  it  seems  to  me  highly 
important  that  a  legislative  reference  department  should  be  established 
in  the  Congressional  Library.  The  experience  of  several  of  our  states  in 
this  matter  is  conclusive  as  to  the  great  usefulness  of  such  a  department. 
Indeed,  I  think  if  once  established,  everyone  who  had  any  knowledge  of 
it  would  deem  it  indispensable.” 


